


Down In New Orleans

by AngelFace273



Series: Just a Little Change, and Digging a Little Deeper, In a Whole New World [5]
Category: Disney Animated Fandoms, Disney Princesses, The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 15:11:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5053600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelFace273/pseuds/AngelFace273
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tiana and Prince Naveen have become Thomas and Princess Naya</p><p>*A continuously updated series of one-shots set in genderbended universes of the Disney Princesses. You will find here snippets of some scenes, reimaginings of others, and a look into some that were missing. Irregular updates. Requests are welcomed, but not guaranteed a chapter.*</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down In New Orleans

**Author's Note:**

> This is the scene where Charlotte La Bouff (Leonard La Bouff) tells Tiana about the prince and the ball.

“You’ve got about as much chance of gettin’ that restaurant as I do of winnin’ the Kentucky Derby!”

Thomas managed to restrain himself from snapping at his laughing co-worker, though it was a very near thing. He should’ve been used to it by now – Buford had something to say about the young man’s restaurant at least once a week, if not more often, but it still rankled him to know that the number of people who truly believed he could get it was so small. Not for the first time, he considered just asking the La Bouffs for the rest of the money to buy the building. Leonard had said before that he and his dad would be willing to back him. Once he had the restaurant, he could fix it up at his own leisure, and then once Tommy’s Place opened, it would be easy enough to pay them back…

As he served the next few tables, Thomas mentally shook his head. He’d get his restaurant on his own merit and skills, not because of his connections. Leonard couldn’t understand it, but his father did, and tried to help instead by occasionally hiring Thomas to cater events for him.

As if the thought of him had summoned him, Eli ‘Big Daddy’ La Bouff walked through the door with a newspaper and sat down in what had become his table.

“Mornin’, Mr. La Bouff!” Thomas called over his shoulder.

“Good morning Thomas!” he greeted warmly, and Thomas had to smile. It was hard to dislike the large sugar baron. Mr. La Bouff was one of those rare people who were completely and absolutely race-blind, as well as cheerful and generous to everyone he met.

“Heard ya got voted King of the Mardi Gras parade again,” the waiter commented with a grin as he served the last of his current load.

“Caught me completely by surprise,” La Bouff informed him, before grinning and adding “For the fifth year in a row!” As he chortled, he proceeded to fold his napkin in his collar and rub his hands eagerly. “Now, how’s about I celebrate with-”

But Thomas was already ahead of him. “Beignets?” he finished as he placed a plate of the pastries on the table. “Got me a fresh batch just waitin’ for ya.”

La Bouff chuckled eagerly and held up a beignet. “Well keep ‘em comin’ till I pass out!”

Just then, the door slammed open, and a slim blond whirlwind flew through it towards Thomas, calling his name excitedly. “Hey Lenny,” Thomas sighed with a smile as Leonard La Bouff danced around the waiter chanting “Tommy Tommy Tommy!” before sitting next to his father, practically vibrating in his seat.

Leonard was as flighty as a bird, flamboyant as a peacock, excitable as a squirrel, and a romantic besides. Fairy tales and love stories that had Thomas rolling his eyes made Leonard sigh and daydream, and he was constantly pining over beautiful but unattainable girls. The elder La Bouff didn’t really understand his son’s tendencies, but he adored his only child regardless and tended to spoil him a little. So when Leonard plopped himself into the chair next to him and began chattering at a mile a minute, Mr. La Bouff only smiled indulgently while Thomas rolled his eyes fondly.

“Tommy, did you hear the news?” Leonard practically squealed. “Princess Naya of Maldonia is comin’ to New Orleans. An actual princess Tommy! Isn’t it just the bee’s knees? Dad, tell Tommy what you did, tell him!”

Patting away the powdered sugar from his mouth, Mr. La Bouff began “Well, I invited-”

But Leonard was too excited to wait for his father. “Dad invited the princess to our masquerade ball tonight. It’s just like a fairy tale! Tell him what else you did Dad.”

Mr. La Bouff opened his mouth to speak, then paused to see if Leonard was going to interrupt again, knowing his son. When the blonde merely sat excitedly, he began to say “and she’s stay-” only to stop and shove a beignet in the younger La Bouff’s mouth when he started to talk over his father. “And she’s stayin’ in our house as my personal guest,” he finally finished, sighing in relief that he could at last get a word in. Leonard nodded eagerly as he chewed the pastry in his mouth.

Though Thomas couldn’t really care less about some princess (unlike his friend, the waiter was too practical to believe that a happily-ever-after was automatically attached to anyone with a royal title), he knew how much Leonard dreamed of a fairy tale romance with a beautiful woman, and you couldn’t get much closer to that than a romance with a princess. So when he spoke next, it was with genuine warmth and pride for his best friend.

“Lenny, that’s really swell. I’m sure you’ll sweep her off her feet. A li’l bit of advice though,” he said as he brought another plate of his beignets to Mr. La Bouff to help emphasize his point. “My Mama always said the quickest way to anyone’s heart is through their stomach.”

Walking away, Thomas didn’t notice the light bulb go off in Leonard’s head. The blonde looked at the plate, whispered “That’s it!” excitedly, grabbed the beignet in his father’s hand, and launched himself at his friend.

Ignoring Mr. La Bouff’s confusion at his pastry-less hand, Leonard threw his arms around Thomas exclaiming “Tommy! You’re a bona fide genius!” Looking at the waiter’s confused face, he clarified, “Your beignets! I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love ‘em. If the princess tries some of ‘em at the masquerade tonight, she’ll love ‘em so much that she’ll fall right into a romantic state of mind. It’ll be the perfect thing!”

“Thanks Lenny, but I really don’ think-” Thomas tried to say, but Leonard wasn’t listening. As he darted back to his father (who was ignoring his son’s antics in favor of eating his breakfast) and reached into the older man’s inside pocket to grab his wallet, he told Thomas “I’m gonna need ‘bout five hundred beignets. Will this about cover it?”

Then he shoved several hundred-dollar bills into Thomas’ hands.

Struck speechless, Thomas scrambled a bit to catch all of the money and stared at it. Quickly, his mind calculated exactly how much money he currently had in his hands, as well as how much he’d have left after five hundred beignets.

The numbers he came up with almost overwhelmed him.

“Th-this should do it just fine, Lenny,” he said in a daze, and then his mind finally caught up to reality. “This is it,” he gasped as his excitement grew. “I’m gettin’ my restaurant!”

Leonard blinked, then gasped in delight as he realized the implications of what he just did. He couldn’t help hugging his best friend again with a happy laugh. “Both of our dreams are finally comin’ true,” he grinned as Thomas beamed back at him. “Tonight’ll be the start of the rest of our lives!”

* * *

 

As he absently changed out of his stained and dirty Renaissance costume into the prince costume Leonard gave him, Thomas tried to give half an ear to his friend’s chattering, but his heart wasn’t in it. He had been so close, so _close_ , he could have touched it, but the dream he’d had since he was a little boy had been yanked away from him. His father’s dream had been yanked from him.

_“You were outbid.”_

_“You can kiss that place goodbye.”_

_“A boy of your background woulda had his hands full, tryin’ to run a big business like that.”_

“Thank you, ev’nin’ star!”

Leonard’s cheer momentarily brought Thomas out of his fugue, and for a brief moment, as he put on his gloves, the waiter wanted to hate his best friend. For having money, for having status, for having his dream (his silly, _childish_ dream) come true with almost no effort at all, for having every single thing that Thomas had to go without handed to him on a platter.

_“You were outbid…”_

_“…kiss that place goodbye…”_

_“A boy of your background woulda had his hands full…”_

Just as quickly though, the hatred drained from him. It wasn’t Lenny’s fault that things worked out like this. Thomas should have known that the Fenners wouldn’t honor their word. Why sell the property to a black man when a white man was also willing to buy?

He dragged himself out from behind the changing screen, dressed in sparkling pale blue and white. He heard Leonard say something about little boys and fairy tales, but he just couldn’t summon the energy to care – he just felt empty.

_“…outbid…”_

_“…goodbye…”_

_“…boy of your background…”_

“Well,” Leonard chirped. “I’m off. Wish me luck!” He all but ran out the door, calling for Princess Naya. As his steps faded away, Thomas drifted listlessly across the room to the open balcony.

“Almost…”

**Author's Note:**

> This should not have taken me over a year to write. Especially since I had most of it written within a couple of weeks. I am SO sorry.
> 
> In any case, I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a comment or critique!


End file.
